Brown murder trial, day 2: Work connections recounted

Day 2 of the trial of Andy Brown began Friday in St. Joseph County Circuit Court with testimony from Joy Stevens, office manager and partner at David F. Locey CPA in Sturgis.

By Corky EmrickTwitter: @CorkyESJ

Day 2 of the trial of Andy Brown began Friday in St. Joseph County Circuit Court with testimony from Joy Stevens, office manager and partner at David F. Locey CPA in Sturgis.Under questioning by St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough, Stevens told the jury about the relationship with Andy Brown. Stevens said Brown worked from the accounting agency for about five years, initially renting space.Brown, who is standing trail in the Oct. 2, 2013 shooting death of Locey, lost his CPA license at one point, but regained it after taking classes and getting a letter of recommendation by Locey, Stevens said.She also told jurors about a meeting on Sept. 23, when Locey instructed Brown he needed to start doing some things differently.“But Andy didn’t do these,” Stevens said. That led to a heated meeting on Oct. 1 that included Locey, Brown, Brown’s wife, Heather, and office staff.The meeting covered a letter that Locey CPA had received from a Grand Rapids attorney, who represented VIP Auto Body. In the letter they, VIP, terminated Locey CPA services.Stevens said Locey was extremely upset after 30 years of building the firm’s reputation.Also discussed at the meeting was Brown’s continued employment with Locey.“Dave asked me what I thought and I told him Andy should be terminated,” Stevens said. “I don’t trust him and I won’t trust him.”Locey told Brown there was a 50-50 chance of him being fired and he was leaning toward Stevens position to terminate.Stevens added that at the end of the day another complaint was received from a catering company in Kalamazoo. She said Locey then decided to fire Brown.Under cross-examination by defense counsel Micheal Hills, Stevens testified to the business arrangement Locey and Brown had.For the next several hours at Friday’s proceedings, owners and employees of VIP Auto Body took the stand.Testifying first was owner Scott Elkins. He testified that Brown had been his accountant since 2011.Elkins told the court that Brown had full access to his accounts and was taking care of all his business, except for payroll. Elkins said he became suspicious when he received letters from the IRS for unpaid taxes.He would later learn that he owed the federal and state governments more than $230,000.“I became skeptical, found theft of money. He transfered money electronically,” Elkins said. “(Brown) was constantly making excuses, he was good at coming up with answers ... I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.” Elkins said he questioned Brown and he admitted to Elkins there was a problem. But Elkins eventually hired an attorney, who advised him to cut all ties with Brown.Brown’s behavior was brought out in more testimony from Elkins, who said Brown was coming to his business, where he stayed for hours.“I wanted to stay clear of him, he was making me nervous. He had a crazed look in his eyes,” Elkins said. “He was like a bad girlfriend.”Gaythia Elkins took the stand next, and testified to pressing Brown for answers on the company’s financials until she finally went looking on her own.“Andy would tell me the IRS made a mistake, there was nothing to worry about,” Gaythia said. “He was giving me bits and pieces, fragmented spreadsheets. It was something an eighth-grader could do.”Taking the stand next was William (Ed) Elkins, VIP Auto Body Shop manager, who reiterated testimony of his brother and sister-in-law.He said he noticed Brown showing up more and more.“There was a lot of tension in the shop,” Ed said. “I tried to avoid Mr. Brown. I knew my brother was going to fire him.”McDonough changed gears in his questioning, focusing on Ed’s stolen .38 caliber revolver. Ed told the court he has a permit to carry the gun. He said he often takes the gun off at work and puts it in his desk.“I’m sure he (Brown) saw me put it in my desk several times,” Ed said. He testified that on the day Locey was shot, he realized the gun was missing. He searched for the weapon and then reported it stolen to Coldwater police.“I haven’t seen the gun since,” he said.The final VIP Auto Body employee to take the stand was Charlene Martin, who does billing for the company. She told the court that Brown seemed professional and that she liked him. She said she became suspicious that something was wrong when a laid-off worker was unable to collect benefits.Nicholas Postula, a self-employed computer technician, also testified Friday, saying he removed remote access programs from the VIP computer.The final witness of the day was Debrah Franks, from C.A. Murphy Oil Company. She testified to suppling police with video surveillance tapes from the BP station on M-66.The trial will resume Tuesday at 8 a.m.